Category Archives: Carlene Love

Mermaids Immortalized in Romance Fiction (And a giveaway to boot!)

Alethea Kontis, Avery Flynn, Carlene Love, Dana Rodgers, Denny S. Bryce, Giveaway, Kerri Carpenter, Kimberly MacCarron, Loni Lynne, Masha Levinson, mermaids, Pintip Dunn, Robin Covington, Susan Andrews, , , , , , , ,

7Hello fishy friends!

How’s everyone doing? I hope your 2016 is off to a great start. I’m humbled and honored to say January is wrapping up very nicely with the release of my eighth published novel. Let Me See (Book 2 of the These Three Words series) just came out today. I’m so very happy I get to share this story with you but guess what really has me smiling?

I’ve missed my fishy sisters so much since moving away from their area nearly two years ago. But today I get to be with them again. Sort of.

I hope you’ll enjoy this excerpt from my new release in which the Waterworld Mermaids become immortalized in romance fiction. **Be sure and leave a comment below for a chance to win a free e-copy.** Let’s see if you can spot them…

Copyrighted Excerpt from Let Me See (These Three Words, 2) by Carlene Love…

Jay normally spent as much time out front chatting with the guests as he did on stage performing for them but right now he wanted a few extra quiet moments alone to let the importance of tonight sink in.

“Jay, come.”

Having thought that, Marie was rarely persistent with him like this. So he followed her out front, forgetting for the time being that he was only half-dressed for his solo. He ran his hand over his abs, rubbing away some of the sweat already sticking to his skin. He’d barely crossed paths with Julian but the bump-in had been enough and he had the man’s angel wing glitter all over his black pants. Jay dusted it off as best he could, eventually giving up. Jay hooked his thumbs in his suspenders. He left the newsboy hat that would—pardon the pun—cap off his college prep outfit in homage to Maggie, in his locker and followed Marie out front. One thing he recognized for sure was the extra pep in her step. If he didn’t know better, he’d have thought she was playing Cupid or something ridiculous like that. Too bad he couldn’t just tell her he’d officially taken his heart off the market, for good, two weeks ago when he’d been stood up again by the girl who had somehow taken his everything prisoner.

“Yes, ma’am,” he said and followed her out, pumping himself up for the night and walking to the beat of Gabe’s solo song.

“So you guys had a pretty successful adoption event at the last shelter drive?”

“Yes, Marie. Why do you ask? You sure are talking to me a whole lot tonight. I mean, I love it. But, do you swear everything is okay with you?” He’d do anything he could to help her. She worked hard and he knew she had issues she kept hidden. Jay knew how that could eat at a person.

“I’m in the mood to do some good and you think there’s something wrong with me? Gee, thanks, Stud.”

He wasn’t sure exactly what to say back to her, to be honest. It was tricky with Marie because Jay knew he had to keep his flirting to a minimum, remembering how wrecked it had made him when D had gotten too loose with his flirty words for Kelley. “My apologies to the lady.”

They walked single file through the last bits of the cramped back hallways until they got to the door that led into the public portion of the club. Jay took an extra-long step to put him in front of Marie so that he could get the door for her. He ushered her through but then noted how she quickly jumped back in front of him. Guess she really wanted to be the leader.

“Accepted. And you’re right, it is odd that I’m feeling so chipper. It’s freaking me out but I’m going with it for this night only. I just feel like this burst of goodness came inside earlier. Apparently your sister’s spirit of positivity has its claws in me tonight.” She winked and smiled softly at him. “Anywho, recognize anyone?”

Marie suddenly stopped walking when they’d only made it a few feet into the club, clearly waiting for him to stop too and have a look around. Okay, he’d play along and checked out the bar area since that was where he associated Marie as being most often. “Drunk Al. Tina and her mom and her sisters. Um, Brad?” He noted the faces he could see this far in the dark.

“Ahem.” She cleared her throat and pulled him around by the suspender until he was facing the stage. She let go and the elastic snapped his skin. It didn’t really hurt but he let out a yelp just to tease her. “Ouch.”

Now he did see a ton of familiar faces. “Do you really want me to start naming everyone? Cause there’s Liz, Kerri, Dana, Kim, Alethea, Pintip, Susan, Loni, Masha, and Denny, just for starters.” It gave him an immense feeling of joy that so many of the regulars were already here supporting the cause. “Oh, and let’s see … Lynne, Robin, and Avery. I can keep going—Jen, Keely, Deb, Denise, Sue, Lil. Ooo, Becky’s looking supa-hot tonight. She turned fifty in here last week, you know. Still fricking gorgeous. Did you know she’s the drummer in a band? I think I’m going to give her a late birthday lick later on. In fact, I think I’m gonna go over there with my sexy self and lick her right now.” Of course he was just teasing, watching Marie’s face get more and more perturbed with him. It was his playful payback to her for bringing him out before he’d gotten dressed and then being so secretive. But honestly, who did she want him to see?

“Ugh. You’re impossible. And you wonder why I don’t talk much to you boys. Gabe—”

But she may as well have stopped speaking.

The second he changed his line of sight to the stage where Gabe currently held court as a half-dressed military hero, he saw the one thing he never would have expected, not in a million years at this point.

She didn’t even have to turn around for him to know.

*****

Eek! I hope you liked it!

Take my friendly fishy advice. If you find yourself missing those who you care about and can’t be near, write them something. Whether it’s a letter, an email, a text, or yeah, in this case a novel. Reach out. Let them know you’re thinking of them. I call it a paper hug. xoxo

**Giveaway Info: Say hi, or better yet, say hi and leave a message for someone you’re currently missing in the comments section and I’ll enter you into the drawing for a free e-copy of Let Me See. Winner will be randomly picked on Sunday night, 1/31/2016. Good luck!

My best to you and yours!

Fishy kisses,

Carlene Mermaid

Let-Me-See-evernightpublishing-JayAheer2016-3DrenderAre you sure you’re ready to see what’s inside?

Two hearts beating…      

S Club dancer and extrovert, Jay, has worked very hard for this eye-opening moment with his reluctant and shy friend, Kelley. Unfortunately, a humorous attempt to get her to open up serves to push her further away. Now it’s nearly impossible to convince her he’s not just out to play.

Hundreds of scars in need of hiding…       

For good reason, Kelley has yet to let Jay see all of her whereas he takes his clothes off nightly for a living. Her respect for him runs unmatched because she sees who he is inside. There’s just no way to ever reciprocate and that’s not fair to him. His interest in her has never made sense. The best option is convincing Jay there really is nothing to see.

One dark night to shine some light on their healing…

Sometimes, it just takes one very patient man, one dimly lit room and one safe set of arms.

Check out more from Let Me See HERE at the Evernight site or HERE at Amazon. xoxo

Quintessentially Me: Carlene

Carlene Love, ,

Mermaid-Carlene-300x225Happy 2016, fishy friends! Welcome to the New Year, the lagoon and to this month’s blog theme: Find something of meaning with history that describes/embodies/personifies you to a tee.

(Thank you, Alethea Mermaid, for the thought-provoking prompt!)

So… Here I’ve been searching my house the past two days for something that fits the bill. It’s not been easy! Simply put, I’m a girl of few possessions.

The things I treasure, I often pack up and stick in my car. Her name is Fancy, my car, because she was the most stripped down model of Honda I could afford but she may as well be a billion dollar spaceship to me and I’d never want her to feel anything less than that. The places we have gone, the things we have seen…

At any given moment, Fancy’s trunk might be carrying around such precious cargo as my telescope whose name is Vera. Vera because in Spanish, it means “he or she will see”. I earned Vera by helping a writing friend of mine with their book and I’m very proud of that. Bonus points for how cool it was that my friend happened to have read my bio and noted my affinity for stargazing. Surprise!

Let’s see, there’s also a box of my published books. With it being the New Year and all, I’d like to speak it into existence that someday soon, those books will go from Fancy’s fabulous trunk and into the hands of readers.

Like flesh and bone girls, Fancy isn’t just about the fun in her trunk…

There are the scratch marks covering the front interior from where I stuffed chain-link building materials inside her, convinced I was going to erect my own fence. Hey, in my defense, I’d just repaired a big hole in one of the house walls and was feeling pretty ambitious.

There’s this man-boy I transport around. The orange, melted-crayon stains on the backseat are his work of art but lately, he graces Fancy withFancyandCarlene Nay-Nay whipping, a smelly singlet and a very heavy backpack. For the record, he’s responsible for my most favorite stains.

Sand. There will always be sand. Everywhere.

Um, and air fresheners because I might have a very sensitive tummy. Yes, I just said that. Oh my goodness … and I totally could have blamed it all on man-boy’s smelly singlet! Zoinks. (Mermaid blushing…)

Essentially, that’s us. Fancy and me. Partners for as long as she’ll have me. Ready to hit the road, see new places and experience new adventures.

Maybe one of these days, she’ll lead me on a road to you, fishy friends.

I wish you all a wonderful 2016 and encourage you to take some time to enjoy being outside. Who knows what you might find out there. And I’d love to hear something you hold dear that simply says, “You”.

Xoxo,

Carlene Mermaid

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cannot Write Without: Carlene Love

Cannot Write Without, Carlene Love, ,

The question in the lagoon this month: What’s the one thing you cannot write without?

Today’s answer comes from Waterworld Mermaids’ very own, Carlene Love.

***********************

WordsOne thing, says Alethea. One thing. The. One. Thing. You need to write.

I love her. But this was hard. Until I realized I could make a tiny tweak to our theme. Maybe it’s not the “end all, be all” of writing necessities, but I’ll tell you what, I do much better in its comfy embrace. Without the nighttime, my words would be like sad little kids sitting on a bone-dry slip ‘n’ slide with a water hose stuck in the yard across the street guarded by a frothy-mouthed attack monster of your choice.

Man, that’s not a pretty scene. But hopefully this poem is. Thank you for letting me share why I love to write at night…

**********

Safe Words

I’d like to wake up when it’s safe and dark

Pull back the covers and get in my car

Drive until the road meets the edge of the sea

Call to you

Then hear you call back to me.

We can whisper and let everyone else sleep

It’s okay, you can speak

Your darkest and most beautiful truth

Dear Words, I surrender to you

And only the stars will know what we’ve said

And I’ll drive back home and crawl into bed

With you.

~by Carlene Love

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Do you love the night too? What’s your favorite thing to do in the dark? I’d love to hear it.

Fishy kisses to you all,

Carlene Mermaid

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Connect with Carlene on Facebook

Check out Carlene’s free read, Touch of Sin

 

Thank you, Andrew.

Carlene Love

Beach 2Written for Andrew, a man I didn’t need to meet.

“Still”

I sit and think because I still can

What I am, I still am

He was a good man.

 

Thank you for your service, Andrew McKenna.

Andrew was killed on Friday by a suicide bomber in Kabul, Afghanistan while serving our country. I never met him, but he was deployed with a family member who is still out there, giving her best, and what he did, he did for you and me. My most heartfelt and sincere thoughts are with his family, his fellow troops, and all those he did this for.

Be Here Now, friends. Be Here Now.